Again. WELL, THEY ARE ADVERTISING SAYS THEY DO LICENSED WORK. EVEN AFTER THE STATE SAYS THEY CAN'T. AND TONIGHT WE ARE CONFRONTING THEM. WELL, IF IT'S SUSPENDED, ARE YOU TELLING PEOPLE THAT YOU WORK FOR THAT IT IS SUSPENDED? WE EVEN UNCOVERED AN UNLICENSED CONTRACTOR HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA ACCUSED OF STEALING A LEGITIMATE LICENSE TO PASS OFF AS HIS OWN. SO HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE PERSON WHO CLAIMS THEY ARE QUALIFIED TO FIX YOUR AC REALLY IS? WELL, THAT'S WHY WE BROUGHT IN LOCAL 6'S ERYKA WASHINGTON. IT IS A BIG RISK IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE HIRING. IT IS A BUSINESS RISK. AC UNITS COST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BUT THE RISK IS BIGGER THAN JUST WASTING MONEY ON SHODDY WORK. THE STATE TOLD US A LOT OF UNLICENSED CONTRACTORS HAVE CRIMINAL HISTORY. YOU DON'T WANT THEM COMING INTO YOUR HOME. THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING A GREAT DEAL ON NEW AIR CONDITIONER. GAVE ME A PRICE AND IT SOUNDED PRETTY GOOD. I SAID, WELL, OKAY, WE NEED IT. RIGHT AWAY, LET'S GO AHEAD AND DO IT. PAYING $3,000 UP FRONT. BUT HIS NEW AC WASN'T WORKING RIGHT. THE SYSTEM NEEDED MORE PARTS LIKE THIS SHROUD TO BE INSTALLED. CONTRACTOR TOLD THOMAS HE WOULD BE BACK TO FINISH THE JOB. BUT YOU NEVER CAME BACK. I KEPT CALLING HIM TO COME BACK AND DO IT. KEPT PUTTING ME OFF. AND FINALLY HE QUIT RETURNING MY CALLS. AND I WOULD LEAVE MESSAGES, HE WOULDN'T RETURN THE CALLS. THAT'S WHEN COLIN REPORTED HIM AND FOUND OUT HE HAD NO LICENSE. ADAMS WAS ARRESTED BUT THOMAS HAD TO HIRE A NEW LICENSED CONTRACTOR TO PULL THE UNIT, REINSTALL IT AND FINISH THE JOB. IT COST HIM AN EXTRA $650. IT'S A PROBLEM STATE OFFICIALS SEE ALL THE TIME AND THEY ARE CONSTANTLY FIGHTING TO STOP IT . MANGE SURE THE PEOPLE DOING THE WORK ON THAT INVESTMENT, ON THAT PROPERTY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE THAT IT TAKES TO DO IT RIGHT. TIM MCGRATH WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF REGULATION, ORDERING 119 UNLICENSED CONTRACTORS TO STOP DOING WORK IN CENTRAL FLORIDA IN THE LAST TEN MONTHS. ARE YOU STILL DOING WORK AS A LICENSED CONTRACTOR? WHY ARE YOU ALL VIDEO TAPING ME OR RECORDING ME? I'M A LICENSED CONTRACTOR. THE LICENSE POINTING TO IS SUSPENDED. WELL, IF IT'S SUSPENDED, ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT HE WORK FOR THAT IT IS SUSPENDED? I HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO SAY TO YOU. THE DEPARTMENT ALSO SETS UP STINGS LIKE THIS ONE WHERE THEY WORK WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT TO LURE UNLICENSED CONTRACTORS TO A HOUSE. ONCE THEY SAY THEY WILL DO THE WORK. THEY BUST THEM. OTHERS LIKE RICHARD CAJO GET ARRESTED AFTER A HOME OWN ARE FILES A COMPLAINT. COJO ACCUSED OF INSTALLING A UNIT WHERE THE WIRING COULD NOT HANDLE THE LOAD AND COULD POSSIBLY BURN DOWN THE HOME. ALSO ACCUSED OFOVER CHAR OF OVERCHARGING AND STEALING A LEGITIMATE LICENSE AND PASSING IT OFF AS HIS OWN. WE DON'T WANT TO SEE FOLKS HAVING TO SPEND DOUBLE TO GET THEIR WORK DONE. AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS STORY IS THAT WHEN WORK IS DONE IN YOUR HOME BY AN UNLICENSED CONTRACTOR, THE STATE TELLS ME THAT IT PROBABLY WON'T BE COVERED BY YOUR HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE. YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK. ERIKA, THE ABOUT I GO QUESTION, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR CONTRACTOR HAS A LEGITIMATE LICENSE? VERY GOOD QUESTION, LISA. STATE ACTUALLY HAS A MOBILE APP THAT LET'S YOU VERIFY LICENSE RIGHT FROM YOUR PHONE. YOU JUST PLUG IN THE LICENSE NUMBER AND FIND OUT IF YOUR CONTRACTOR IS FOR REAL AND IN GOOD STANDING. ALSO MAKE SURE THAT THE LICENSE IS ACTUALLY MATCHES UP WITH THE NAME OF THE COMPANY, THE PERSON THAT YOU ARE HIRING. ALSO EVEN USE IT TO REPORT UNLICENSED WORK, TOO. MATT, I KNOW YOU JUST -- I JUST DOWNLOADED IT DURING

ORLANDO, Fla. -

Colen Thomas and his wife thought they were getting a great deal on a new air conditioner unit in their Tavares home.

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So Thomas hired Adams and paid him up front to do the work. But after his new AC unit was installed, it wasn't working right. The system needed more parts, including a shroud, to be installed, Thomas said.

Thomas said Adams told him he'd come back to finish the job, but "he never came back."

"I kept calling him to come back and do it. And he kept putting me off from one place to another and finally he quit returning my calls," Thomas said.

That's when Thomas reported him and discovered Adams had no state license.

Adams was arrested on charges of contracting without a license, and Thomas had to hire a new, licensed contractor to "pull the unit and reinstall it," according to invoices Thomas shared with Local 6.

That cost Thomas an extra $650. It's a problem state officials see all the time, and they're constantly fighting to stop it.

"Because you're having someone work on probably the biggest investment of your life -- financial investment of your life -- and you want to make sure the people doing the work on that investment, on that property, have the knowledge and experience to do it right," said Tim McGrath, who works to catch unlicensed contractors.

McGrath works for Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which reports ordering 119 unlicensed contractors to stop performing work in Central Florida within about the last 10 months.

But sometimes contractors ignore those orders.

Peterson Germain of Orlando-based Island Air Systems Inc. has a suspended license, according to state records. But when Local 6's Eryka Washington confronted him about driving his work van around anyway, he denied he was unlicensed.

"I'm a licensed contractor," Germain said, pointing to the suspended license number on his work van.

"Are you telling people that you work for that it is suspended?" Washington asked.

But Germain refused to answer the question, saying, "I have nothing else to say to you."

The state DBPR also sets up stings, where they work with local law enforcement to lure unlicensed contractors advertising to do work to a house with undercover officers.

During a recent sting conducted along with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, four people from the Kissimmee area were arrested after saying they'd perform unlicensed work.

Others get arrested after a complaint is filed. Richard Cudjoe is accused of installing a unit where "wiring in the home could not handle the load and could have possibly burned down the home," according to a construction complaint form Thomas M. Phillips filed with Orange County.

An investigation resulted in him being arrested and charged with unlawful contracting, grand theft and fraudulent use of personal information, for allegedly using a legitimate license number from another business as his own.

Cudjoe declined to be interviewed on camera Monday, but told Local 6 by phone that there is more to the story and that he's fighting the charges in court.

Another reason to avoid unlicensed contractors is because there's a good chance your homeowners insurance may not that work, officials said.

McGrath encourages anyone who is a victim of unlicensed contracting to report it. DBPR has a mobile app that allows you to verify the license right from your smart phone, and even submit a complaint, with photo evidence.

"The last thing we want to see is consumers to be taken advantage of, McGrath said. "We don't want to see people paying double to get work done."

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